Lecture Notes: Basic Science and Translation
Key Topics
- Intervention and Enthusiasm
- Methylation Studies
- Biomarkers of Aging
Summary and Impressions
- Intervention: The speaker expresses excitement about new interventions and discoveries in the field of aging and methylation studies.
- Methylation Studies: The focus includes various clocks and biomarkers, particularly methylation as a predictor of future morbidity.
Types of Biomarkers
- Transcriptomic Biomarkers
- Lipidomic and Metabolomic Clocks
- Proteomics Clocks
Biomarker Interpretability
- Importance of choosing the right biomarker for specific needs such as inflammation and morbidity prediction.
- Clinical biomarkers like blood pressure are more predictive for future morbidity compared to omics clocks.
Aging and Damage Accumulation
- The aging field is interested in biomarkers measuring accumulated damage.
Methylation Clocks Weaknesses
- Interpretability: Difficulty in interpreting biological significance
- Focus: Interpretability can be enhanced by focusing on methylation in specific chromatin regions.
Methylation Clocks Strengths
- Predictor of Morbidity: Strong predictor for future morbidity
- Human Clinical Trials: Already in use
- Intuitive Appeal: Considered universal across species
- Technical Advantages: Ready for clinical trials and works in vitro studies.
Multi-species Clocks
- Third Generation Clocks: Pan-tissue clocks that measure relative age across different species.
Face Clocks and AI Challenge
- Development of facial clocks for multiple species, linking human with other species like whales, dogs, and mice.
Maximum Lifespan vs. Individual Time to Death
- Species vs. Individual Characteristic: Maximum lifespan is a species trait, whereas time to death is individual.
- Biomarker Development: Challenges in translating species maximum lifespan insights to individual healthspan improvement.
Methylation Dynamics
- Rate of Change: Correlation with maximum lifespan
- Velocity Gradient: Relates to lifespan in specific chromatin regions
Conclusion
- Methylation Studies: Fundamental insights into aging and lifespan.
- Future Directions: Need for longitudinal studies and integration of different biomarker layers.
- Methylation Consortia: Collaboration among numerous researchers.
- Practical Applications: Use in clinical settings and wellness.
Questions and Discussions
- Discussion of chromatin structures, slopes in reprogramming, implications of methylation predictions.
- Challenges in translating methylation insights into practical applications for longevity and healthspan.
This lecture provided a comprehensive overview of the current state of research in methylation and aging, highlighting both the potential and challenges of using biomarkers for predicting morbidity and lifespan.